In cases of abuse or good behavior, video gives the public information about law enforcement.

The police officer who fatally shot a man in the back this month in North Charleston, South Carolina, then apparently planted a Taser next to his body, has been charged with murder.

If a bystander hadn't captured the whole thing on video with his phone, though, Officer Michael Slager likely would still be patrolling the streets. Without that record, Slager's falsified reports of having his Taser stolen, of having had no choice but to use lethal force on 50-year-old Walter Scott, would have been difficult to disprove.

On the same day, halfway across the nation in Wausau, a police officer was involved in a very different sort of incident that ended in a fatality. And, as in the shooting of Walter Scott, video from the scene provides insight into what happened.

In Wausau, though, the dash cam video of moments leading up to a fiery crash that killed 30-year-old Cody Winters showed Officer Sarah Bedish behaving as trained, communicating clearly and truthfully with the suspected offenders and with other law enforcement officers, and then sprinting to the scene of the crash to try to save Winters' life. After an early morning traffic stop, Winters drove away from Bedish, ultimately crashing his car into a tree on North First Avenue. His car burst into flames; Winters later died as a result of the crash.

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An early morning traffic stop by a Wausau police officer ends up in a fiery crash and the death of a Wausau man.
Wausau Police Department

This is an awful story and we feel empathy for Winters' loved ones. For the whole community, though, there is a benefit to the certainty that Bedish's dash cam recording provides. (That video was released to Daily Herald Media on April 10.) The official story and the recordings of what happened match. Wausau police and fire departments did their job; the loss of Winters' life after a traffic stop is a tragedy — but unlike in the South Carolina shooting, it is not the result of a law enforcement crime.

Dashboard cameras in police cars have become a routine, expected part of the job. In the aftermath of the Walter Scott shooting and other high-profile police shootings, a new push has emerged to equip officers with body cameras.

This is a good tool, and local departments should explore the use of body cameras here — yes, even here. Everywhere. As the technology becomes more accessible, body cameras likely become as common as dash cams. If that helps to create a public record of law enforcement's good work while preventing abuses and excesses, it is something every department should welcome.

There are legitimate concerns and complications. The technology costs money and phasing it in requires time and training. Having police body cameras operating can create real privacy concerns — if an officer responds to a report of domestic violence, for example, it might be important to protect the identity of a victim from being made public.

These issues point to the fact that no police chief can snap his or her fingers and immediately launch a body camera program.

But this is the direction we're heading, and forward-thinking cops should look at it as an opportunity, and seek ways to participate in pilot programs or test out the technology.

Some officers in Madison will start wearing body cameras next year as part of a pilot program. We hope to see those programs spread throughout Wisconsin, and we hope to see local leadership to help this to happen.

Body cameras will not "solve" instances of police abuse; nor will they lead to an end to crime. The worst cases of abuse by law enforcement — racially disparate treatment, excessive use of force — seem to happen in places where police don't receive enough training and often feel little connection to the communities they police. (For the record, we see little evidence that either is a big problem here.) In turn, the most difficult communities to police are often those that are economically disadvantaged. It's a vicious cycle: Bad conditions make police work harder, which makes appropriate training and community connection more challenging.

Those are complicated problems with no single solution. But more information about how law enforcement works is a public good. Sooner or later, a lot of that information will come from body cameras.